Red and Silver
by The fishes
Summary: Scorpius never really saw Lily as anything more than his best friend's kid sister and his sister's best friend, or so he believed. Embark on a journey with Scorpius Malfoy and Lily Potter as they attempt to find love elsewhere to realize later that it was in front of them all along.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: The story and character development belong to me, but everything else, including character names in the Potter universe belongs J.K. Rowling.**

12 year old Albus Severus Potter bounded down the stairs and burst into the kitchen with a wild excited look in his eyes.

"Guess what day it is today?" He asked excitedly.

James Potter looked at his younger brother and rolled his eyes, their mother nodded absently as she read the Quibbler and Harry and Teddy nodded at Albus before going back to their conversation.

"Not fair!" Albus complained.

"What did you say dear?" Ginny asked Albus.

"I wanted you to guess, what day it is today." Albus pouted.

"Aren't your friends supposed to be visiting today?" Harry asked.

"Yup." Albus chirped.

"What are you so excited about?" Lily snapped. "You lived with them for a year. You saw them two weeks ago."

Harry was about to intervene when Ginny stopped him with a "they will sort it out among themselves look".

"Harry, I think we need to discuss that thing, I was telling you about last night." She said firmly.

Harry looked at her confusedly before playing along. "Oh yeah. That thing. Yes. We should certainly discuss it. Let's go to the study. Kids if you need anything we will be in the study. Okay?"

"Smooth, Dad." James muttered as Harry and Ginny got up to leave the kitchen.

Albus stared at Lily, his brows furrowed. Lily was not one for temper tantrums; she was one of the most accommodating children out there. He exchanged a quizzical look with Teddy and James, who were looking at Lily too. Lily meanwhile, ignored her brothers and attacked her breakfast with a vengeance. After a non-verbal battle of wills that Teddy lost, he nudged her shoulder gently.

"Everything alright, birdie?" He asked gently.

Lily said nothing, just continued shoving her breakfast down.

"Slow down, Lils. You are going to choke this way." James said gently.

"And what do any of you care?" Lily snapped.

Teddy held Lily's hands gently and forced her to look at him, "What is it, Lily? Did someone say something mean to you? Do you want us to talk to them?"

Lily shook her head, trying to stem the tears coming to her eyes.

"What happened Lils? Did James or AL do something? Do you want me to set them straight?" Teddy asked again, as he saw her eyes sparkle with tears.

Lily shook her head mutely, freeing her hands from Teddy's grip to wipe away her tears.

"Lily, Come on, talk to me. What happened?" Teddy urged.

Lily just shook her head hopped down the chair and ran out of the kitchen.

"Okay, what did the two of you do this time?" Teddy asked patiently.

"Nothing!" James exclaimed as Al nodded beside him. "We don't know what's up with her. She has been this snarky since last night, only now we don't know why she is crying."

"I hate it when she cries." Al said, "Mostly, she throws things at us, but when she cries, we know we really messed up. But I don't know why she is crying now."

"Uh oh!" Teddy exclaimed.

"What?" James asked.

"Err… James you remember when my friends came over for the first time during the summer after my first year?"

"Vaguely. Why?"

"Remember how Al and Lily acted?"

"Well, Al locked himself in his room and refused to come out for the entire day and Lily bit Adam. Oh no!" James exclaimed before exchanging a look with Teddy, "You think she is…" Teddy nodded.

"What?" Albus asked. "She is what?"

"Oh! This is going to be fun!" James said gleefully.

"I have work today." Teddy lamented. "I hate missing this."

"James, Teddy. What are you talking about? You guys are freaking me out?"

"Oh come on, Al! Get it already, aren't you supposed to be the smart one amongst us?" James said.

"Al, think about it. Lily and you were very mean to all of my friends when they first came over. James' best friends are Roxy, Louise and Fred so you could never be mean to them, but…"

"But now, I have friends that are not family and Lily is what Jealous?"

"I don't think she has it in her to be jealous." Teddy said. "I think she is just afraid that she would lose you to your friends."

"But that's ridiculous! You cannot lose family and your friends are the family you kind of, find for yourself!"

"Yes." Teddy said patiently, "But think about how Lily feels. Year after year, she has seen all her cousins and brothers leave for Hogwarts and she waits for them to come back and when they do, none of them are interested in what she has to say anymore. How do you think she feels?"

"I never ignored her." James piped up.

"You changed James, that's why she was so mad at you after your first year." Teddy informed him.

"Shucks! How do you know all this?" Albus asked.

"Well, I had to face this with the three of you. I talked to you about this. Obviously, you don't remember a thing, but my first summer back, you three were horrible to me. Yes, you too James."

"So, what do I do?" Albus asked alarmed. "Scor and Alex would be here any minute."

"Talk to her later, once she has calmed down." Teddy said. "I doubt you will be able to find her now. You know how good she is at hiding in the Manor."

"Makes you wish for a map for the Manor." James remarked.

"I still don't know how you nicked it from his office, but I am proud of you."Teddy said grinning at James.

"Will you guys help me with her?" Al asked timidly.

"Sucks to be you." James said with a sly grin.

"Sometimes, I wonder how you are a Gryffindor and Al is a Slytherin." Teddy said rolling his eyes. "Of course we will help you. I will drop by for dinner tonight; we will talk to her then, okay?" He said getting up from his chair. The two boys nodded.

"Good. Now, I am off to work. God, I hate going to work, we never get three month long summer holidays anymore." Teddy whined. James and Albus laughed as Teddy walked out the door.

"Reckon she will come out of her hiding place anytime soon?" Albus asked James.

"I don't think so, you know how she is. She will write about it, cry about it and then fall asleep. She will come out once she wakes up."

"You think we have been a little unfair to her?"

"I dunno." James said with a shrug. "You heard Teddy, younger siblings are a tad bit dramatic."

Albus threw the last piece of bacon at James. "Stop being mean to her, she is our little sister, didn't Teddy say we have to protect her once she gets to Hogwarts?"

"Oh yeah!" James said with a groan. "But we don't have to worry about anything right now. Wait till she gets in her fourth or fifth year, that's when we will have to curse every boy that walks in her direction."

"I don't think that's fair." Albus said flatly, "Victoire has been dating Teddy since she was 15."

"Yeah and she has known him all her life. Look, if it's a guy we know would take care of Lily then good enough, but what about some stupid git, who hurts her?"

"Well, we can knock some sense into the guy _if_ he hurts her, not before that."

"I don't understand you, Al. We are supposed to protect our little sister."

"Yes. The same little sister, who has been practising and perfecting all known hexes since she was 8. The same little sister who is the granddaughter of Lily Potter, Molly Weasley , Arthur Weasley and James Potter and the daughter of Ginny Weasley and Harry Potter. Do you know who we are? She would kick some ass on her own, I am sure of it."

"Yes." James said rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "She is pretty scary on her own, isn't she?"

Albus grinned, James and he sat in silence for a while, taking second helpings of the breakfast when Sleepy informed Albus that his friends had arrived.

Albus and James ran to the visitor's room and found themselves face to face with Astoria Malfoy.

"Hello, Mrs. Malfoy." Albus said beaming at her, "Hi Scor, Alex. Mrs. Malfoy, I believe you remember my brother James."

"Oh Hello dear. Yes, Yes, I do remember your brother James, although you were quite young when I last saw you." Astoria said kindly.

"Astoria!" Ginny exclaimed as she entered the room.

"Ah, Ginny! How are you?" Mrs. Malfoy said warmly, moving over to hug Ginny Potter. Albus, James, Alex and Scorpius exchanged disbelieving looks, as both Albus and Scorpius had received long letters from their fathers about what great prat the other's father was.

"Mum?" Scorpius asked tentatively, "Ugh… How do you know Mrs. Potter?" James, Albus and Alex stared at the two women in unison.

Astoria Malfoy laughed, "Oh! We have been friends since forever dear. We were quite thrilled when Albus and you wrote to us about being friends with each other. We tried so hard to set up play dates for you, but you know how your fathers are." She said waving her hand dismissively.

"Yeah." Alex said nodding wisely, "Dad says he doesn't understand why Mr. Potter and Uncle Draco are so intent on acting as world class prats."

James grinned at Alex, "I like you, kid." He told Alex.

Alex grinned back, "I think you are pretty cool too. Awesome pranks. Alex Zabini by the way, big fan."

"See mum!" James said, "People actually like our pranks."

Ginny glared at her son as Astoria laughed, "I am glad the tame one is friends with Scorpius." She said softly.

Albus and Scorpius smirked at each other.

"Why are we standing here though, come on Astoria, let's leave the children alone. You can come say Hello to Harry at least and I insist that you stay for tea."

"I can come say Hello to Mr. Potter but I am sorry I would have to decline your offer for tea today. I must return home, Carina is slightly upset about being left alone at home."

"Oh! Why didn't you bring her along? Lily would have loved to meet her. I believe she will be going to Hogwarts this September?"

"No. She is 10, she will be going next year. Oh! I forgot, your Lily is the same age. I do believe it would do the girls some good to know each other. Do you think it would be okay if I take Lily with me? These boys would be trouble enough; also I think young Lyra would love to meet Lily too."

"Oh, not a problem! Why don't I do this, I will have one of our elves drop Lily to your place. She is hiding somewhere in the Manor currently."

"Oh yes, Sure. I guess, Carina, Lyra and Lily could sulk together now." Astoria said with a laugh.

"Elder siblings, never really do understand." Ginny agreed.

"So, I guess, I should get going, I have to prepare for their visit then."

"Oh no! You can't just go. Stay for a cup of tea, please."

"Okay, but only a cup of tea."

"Yes. Yes" Ginny said waving her hand dismissively, leading Astoria out of the door.

"What. Just. Happened?" Alex asked as soon as the two women were out of the door.

"Your guess, is as good as mine Zabini." James muttered eyeing the door sceptically.

"Did our mothers just say that our dads were prats?" Scorpius asked.

"I think they called us prats too, and they arranged a play date for our sisters." Albus said.

"Good. Carina really needs friends. She never talks to anyone, apart from Alex's sister, and our cousins."

"Your sister is weird mate." Alex said.

Scorpius punched his arm. "Is not. She is just shy."

"Lily would set her right then." James commented, "Lily does not have a shy bone in her body. Anyway, you kids enjoy yourselves, I am going off to the joke shop, to help Fred. Al, just tell mum if she asks."

"So, what do you guys want to do? We could go swim in the lake, or play Quidditch or both, it's a good day out there."

"Let's go swim first!" Scorpius said, "We don't have a lake at the Manor and I love swimming."

"Okay, come on, this way." Albus said, leading the two boys out to the lake.

"I still can't believe, your grandson is friends with Malfoy's grandson." Sirius told James as they watched the three boys walk out to the lake from a nearby empty portrait.

"I still can't believe, Harry named him after Snivellus." James replied.

"That should have been our cue that the kid is a goner." Sirius said.

"The two of you are being ridiculous!" Cassiopeia Potter said, rolling her eyes.

"When have they ever been normal?" Remus asked.

"Good point. I am glad that Albus is friends with Scorpius, they are two of a kind, aren't they?"

The other portraits made noises of assent as they watched a new generation forging its own future.

 **AN: So, first attempt at Scorily. Please read and review and let me know what you think of it. Please don't forget to favourite/follow this story or me if you like us. Hoping to hear from you.**

 **Happy Reading.**

 **Much love,  
The fishes**


	2. Chapter 2

It was around dinner when Mrs. Potter decided to drop off Alex and Scorpius at the Malfoy Manor. The Zabini siblings were staying over with the Malfoys for a week as their parents wanted a vacation alone. When Scorpius walked into the sitting room with his mother, Mrs. Potter and Alex; he was pleasantly surprised to see his much quieter sister laughing openly. Lyra was on the floor in splits too, as a little red head girl continued with her stories, "I am not kidding… It is true, you should see the tables fly!"

Scorpius looked at the young girl and remembered the incident from the afternoon. They were having some snack in the kitchen when they heard angry yells from the corridor. Lily had screamed about not wanting to talk to anyone, and that she would be miserable if Mrs. Potter forced her to go make friends with new people. She had screamed and screamed about how nobody loved her and she wished she could just go away. Albus had sighed after the screaming had quieted down and explained to them that generally Lily was one of the most sensitive and caring people they could ever meet. But he had also lamented the fact that she had inherited Lily Evans', Molly and Ginny Weasley's temper along with the legendary Potter temper. She could lose her temper in 0.5 seconds and she could calm down just as fast and behave as if nothing ever happened. And, here she was animatedly telling a story to Carina and Lyra who were laughing hysterically.

Carina was the first one to notice the others in the room. "Scorpius!" She cried cheerfully, waving him over. Carina Malfoy was a spitting image of Narcissa Malfoy, her grandmother, the only difference being that her beautiful blue-grey eyes were covered by thick glasses, and one of the lenses were made of frosted glass. Carina suffered from what was known as "the sleepy eye" syndrome since she had been 7 years old. The healer had assured the family that with corrective potions and the regular use of her glasses, she would be able to correct her eye sight in less than 4 years. Scorpius knew, that these glasses made Carina self conscious and that resulted in her being so reclusive at all times.

Carina had never really lamented it openly, but as her brother, Scorpius knew that she often felt inadequate in the company of people like her mother, grandmother, great aunt Andromeda, Lyra, Aunt Daphne, even their cousin Antlia because all these women were stunningly pretty to look at. He cautiously looked over at Albus' little sister and cursed inwardly, Lily Potter with her auburn hair and chocolate brown eyes was just as pretty as her mother Ginny Potter. Scorpius knew, this would only make Carina feel more insecure, of all the Weasley cousins, Scorpius liked Rose, because she was not conventionally pretty. There was a wild, carefree innocence about her. She was a good friend to Albus and him, she was also healthy competition.

"Hey Nina." He said with a smile, as he came over and kissed his sister's hair, it pained him to see her skinny hands and legs, Carina's feelings of inadequacy were killing her health. "How was your day?"

"It was great!" Carina gushed, "Here meet our new friend, Lily."

"Hi." Lily said brightly to the two boys before sending a wide grin to her mum.

"I trust your day wasn't so bad, Lils."

"I had a great time mum; I can't wait to tell Delia and Steph about Carina and Lyra." Lily said excitedly, "And you have to promise me that you would visit. I think you will like Delia and Stephanie, not to mention we could always bring Hugo along to hang out with us. He isn't mean like other boys." Lily told the girls.

She then turned to Ginny and gave her a beseeching look, "Can they please come over for the summer and during the weekends mum? Please. I would miss Al and James less, you know." She added the last line for good measure with a pout.

Ginny laughed and turned to Astoria, "I am glad our children aren't following their fathers' footsteps. I guess, Harry won't be able to say no to this."

"Draco is putty in Nina's hands. He will melt before she gets the complete sentence out." Astoria added with a grin.

"You know, you guys are scaring me with all your evil plotting." Alex commented from beside his sister as he pulled her pony tail.

"Hey!" Lyra complained. Lyra was a true copy of her father, dark skin, black eyes, high cheekbones and thick black hair. Whereas Alex was a mix of his father and mother Tracey Zabini nee Davis.

"You better not do that again, young man." Astoria scolded Alex, "Or your mother will hear about it."

Alex sighed before flashing Astoria a grin, "Well played Aunt Tori. Well played."

Ginny watched on amused, apparently, most siblings functioned the same way.

"Its nothing." Lily chirped from her seat, "You have to attend one of our Sundays at the Burrow or the Manor, when all of us are there. These threats are nothing to what we are used to."

"Yes." Ginny cut in, "Because we have 13 of you and half of you like getting in trouble. Now come on, we are getting late for dinner. If left to your devices, you would talk through the night." Ginny held out her hand for Lily to take. Lily skipped to Ginny and took her outstretched hand.

"Thank you Mrs. Malfoy for having me over. I had a great time." Lily said turning to Astoria before waving goodbye to her new friends.

Astoria pinched Lily's cheek, "I loved having you over dear. You come any time you want to, you are always welcome here."

"Thank you." Lily said with a smile before turning to Carina and Lyra, "I will owl you both soon." She said before walking off with her mother and Astoria Malfoy to the fire place, chattering away excitedly.

"Wow! That kid doesn't know how to shut up." Alex commented.

Lyra turned and smacked his arm, "You like blowing things up. Hypocritical much?"

Alex grinned at Lyra, "Ah! Big word little sis, did you learn it today?"

"Alex." Lyra said in a warning tone, Alex stuck his tongue out at her and flicked her before taking off with a whoop.

Scorpius and Carina watched Lyra chase Alex out of the room and then turned to look at each other.

"Don't look at me." Carina said with a grin, "If you flick me, I _will_ slaughter you."

Scorpius shrugged, "I know. That's why I don't risk it. So, anyway, how are you really? Did you eat anything?"

Carina nodded.

"And did it stay in your stomach?"

"It wasn't so bad today, a bit of it stayed."

"Have you thought about what we talked about?"

Carina nodded, wiping her eyes a little. Scorpius put a comforting hand around her.

"Hey, it will be okay. Do you want me to talk to mum and dad? They will understand."

"I know." Carina said, her voice close to breaking. "I just don't want to hurt them. How will they feel when they find out that I started doing it in the first place to look pretty and ended up looking uglier instead." She said sniffing now.

"Hey, you know you are beautiful. Don't you remember how everyone we ever met before said that you were one of the prettiest girls out there; that you look exactly like Grandma?"

Carina nodded, "But I have these ugly glasses and-" She started crying again.

Scorpius shushed her, rubbing her back to comfort her. "Come on, it will be alright. You will see."

Carina nodded, wiping her eyes.

"How is Albus' little sister though? I know some kids could be a little insensitive, did she say something? Do you need me to talk to Albus?"

"No!" Carina exclaimed, looking ridiculously at Scorpius with teary eyes. "She is great. She is the only one that did not comment on my glasses and how I should not worry about it. She didn't say anything about my appearance. She had the funniest of stories about her large family. Did you know Teddy is her God brother and that his girlfriend is Lily's cousin?"

"Yeah, I knew Teddy is Albus' God brother, but they love him like a sibling. And I knew he has a girlfriend. He is dating Albus' cousin, Victoire."

"Ugh. French girlfriend?"

Scorpius laughed, "Half French. She is not so bad, she was our head girl last year and a Ravenclaw to boot, threw the most creative feasts ever."

Carina nodded. "I like Lily, she has such a pretty hair colour. It's so Red!"

"I believe you said that to her when you met her for the first time too." Astoria said walking into the room.

"I did? Have I met her before this?"

"Oh yes, all of you met each other the year Teddy left for Hogwarts. From what I remember, Albus and Scor had latched themselves on Teddy's legs and refused to let go-"

Scorpius scrunched up his, trying to hide a grin as Carina smirked at him.

"-And Lily and you were complimenting each other on how pretty you thought the other looked. Oh! I will never forget that day! Lily narrated the entire plotline of Cinderella with her as the protagonist!" Astoria finished with a laugh.

"You mean she said that Mrs. Potter was her step mum?" Carina asked with interest.

"Yes. Ginny explained the idea of muggle fairytales to me and that's how we got the idea of getting you some muggle story books."

"So, I have to thank Lily for introducing me to Rapunzel?"

"I guess."

Scorpius snorted, "Why Rapunzel? Why not Mulan or Elsa or something?"

"The fact that you know Muggle fairy tale princesses disturbs me greatly." Alex said skipping into the room.

"The fact that you understand what I said, says a lot about you too Zabini." Scorpius shot back.

Astoria shook her head fondly, Draco was right; these children would forge their own futures.

"Hello!" Antlia Nott called as she ran into the room, followed closely by Victor Nott. "We are here!"

"Lia!" Carina said excitedly, jumping up to hug her, despite the age difference, Antlia and Carina were really good friends. "Hello Aunt Daphne, Uncle Theo. Hi Daddy!" Carina said, twirling around to hug her aunt, uncle and father.

"Someone is in a good mood today?" Daphne said, cupping Carina's face. "What did we miss?"

"I made a new friend. She is Scor and Alex's friend Albus' sister. Her name is Lily and she is great. You would love her Aunt Daphne. She has such pretty red hair."

"Are you talking about Lily Potter?" Antlia asked from her seat beside Lyra.

"Do you know her?"

"No. I know her brother. James Sirius Potter and her cousins Fred, Roxanne and Louise Wealsey. Roxanne is fine, but the boys are the biggest prats I ever met, especially James."

"You wound me woman." Alex said dramatically, "He is one of the greatest prankster out there along with the other three you mentioned! A prodigy of the Weasley twins, how can you call him a prat?"

"Ugh! Let me think." Antlia shot back, "He is arrogant, cocky, believes the universe is centred around him, hexes anyone he fancies, walks around like he owns the school. He is so full of himself; sometimes I wonder how he manages to do well in our exams. I mean he is narcissistic enough to keep checking himself in the mirror all day and not feel tired of his stupid face."

"Wow! You really do hate him." Alex said with a low whistle. Antlia crossed her arms and huffed.

"I am just glad one of you has their priorities right." Draco said with a satisfied smile.

"Draco!" Both Daphne and Astoria protested.

"Dad." Scorpius said reproachfully, "James is not that bad. He just likes a bit of laugh and Albus is one of my best friends."

"And Lily is nice too. Can we invite her over more? Please Daddy!"

"You are not being fair to me, you know I cannot say no to that look." Draco said with a sigh, "If it makes you happy, then go ahead."

"Thank you, Daddy." Carina said jumping up and hugging him.

"Et tu, Carina?" Antlia asked forlornly.

"And now falls, Antlia." Viktor said quietly, which had the rest of the kids cracking up.

Theo who had been watching Carina carefully gave Draco a meaningful look before walking out of the room.

"How has she been lately?" Theo asked Draco once they were out of the others' earshot.

"Some days she gets better, other days it feels worse." Draco said with a sigh.

"You are doing all you could, Draco." Theo said quietly.

"But its not enough, is it?"

"Its also a psychological problem, you will have to talk to her and take her for counselling."

"I know. I am just so scared to talk to her, I can see her hurting. I am afraid of talking to her about it and hearing it all."

"You will have to be strong for her."

"But she is just 10, she shouldn't have to worry about trying to look pretty. What are we doing to our children?"

"The world is a harsh place to live in. There will always be impossible standards for children; we have to support them so that they know they don't have to live up to any of it."

"Dad, I talked to her today. She is ready to talk to Mum and you. Just hear her out." Scorpius said cutting in the conversation, nodding at his uncle.

"You-You knew?" Draco asked flabbergasted.

"Of course. Who do you think told Uncle Theo about it even before she started showing physical proof of being anorexic?" Scorpius said. "I am trying to help her, but she needs all of us. I hate how she feels that she is not pretty enough."

Draco and Theo nodded gravely, "I see it with Antlia. The pressure to look good and feel good about herself; to look slim, shape her eyebrows, no matter how much it hurts; makes me wonder were we such horrible prats in school?"

"I bet we were but Astoria says that girls are meaner to each other but they would be particularly nasty to a girl who is ridiculed by the boys too."

"Why is it like this? For us?" Scorpius asked.

"I don't know Scor. Maybe you could change that, one person at a time."

"Yes. Let's start with Carina, I think she is ready to ask for help. I don't know what changed."

"Yes. Your mother and I would talk to her tonight. Theo will you please arrange for an appointment with a mind healer?"

Theodore Nott nodded before walking back to the room with Draco and Scorpius. Scorpius looked at his sister and hoped that things would be better by Christmas.

 **AN: You know what to do. Please read and review and if you like this story or me don't forget to follow/ favorite us.**

 **Happy Reading**

 **Much love**

 **The fishes**


	3. Chapter 3

**December 2018**

Scorpius bounced on his ankles as the train stopped at the King's cross station.

"Oh good, we are here." He said enthusiastically.

"I feel so loved right now, Scor. You just can't wait to get away from us." Albus said feigning a hurt look.

"There they go again. Gear up Rosie, we are about witness another lover's spat." Alex told Rose seriously. Rose rolled her eyes but her best friend Hope Grey giggled at Alex's comment.

Albus stuck his tongue out at Alex before giving Scorpius a conspiratorial grin.

Before anyone could blink, Alex was covered in black, horribly smelling liquid while Albus and Scorpius fell back in their seats laughing, Rose gave them exasperated looks before dragging her trunk down.

"Dang it, Guys!" Alex groaned, "Mum is going to kill me for smelling so bad."

"You could do with a bath too. You haven't taken a shower in weeks." Scorpius said chortling.

"Excuse me. I think its Al and you, who run away from baths. I take one every day."

"Its too cold." Albus said, "I don't like the idea of dying of frost bite."

"We do get hot water in the showers." Hope pointed out.

"Yeah, but the effort involved is too much." Scorpius added with a shrug.

"Are you guys planning to come along before our parents and 50 Aurors barge into the train to look for us?" Rose asked from the door way. "And Zabini, just stand still." She said as she pointed her wand his clothes, " _Scourgify maxima."_

"Thanks, Rose." Alex said gratefully looking at his shirt, which looked like a designer grey and white shirt and the stench was almost gone from it. Rose shrugged before walking about of her compartment.

Scorpius, Albus and Alex stepped out of the train and Alex was the first one to spot his father. He said a quick goodbye to the boys, before walking away to his family. Albus and Scorpius dragged their trunks around, looking for their family.

"THERE THEY ARE! ALBUS!" A voice shouted behind them, and Albus turned just in time to catch his little sister who had jumped straight into his arms. Scorpius stared at the mass of red hair on the little girl's head and then at the shorter girl running behind her, this girl had honey blonde hair and was wearing normal glasses.

"Carina?" Scorpius asked surprised, his sister looked much better she looked like she had gained some pounds, she looked taller, she looked happier and for once she was at the station to receive him.

"The one and only." Carina said with a grin before pulling Scorpius in a hug. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." Scorpius said, holding his sister at an arms' length to look at her better. "Wow! You look different, you have grown so much."

Carina smiled at him warmly, "I feel better too. I will tell you all about it when we reach home."

By now Albus and Scorpius' families had converged to them. Albus and James were being picked up by Teddy while all the Malfoys were present at the station to pick up Scorpius.

Scorpius went ahead to give his mother and father a quick hug before turning to look at Teddy who was rough housing with James and Albus as Lily sat on a trunk and laughed. Carina was sitting beside Lily and her face was scrunched up as she laughed. Scorpius had not really paid attention to Lily Potter the one time her had met her that summer, he only got curious about her after several letters from Carina talking about a bunch of new people that Lily had introduced Lyra and her to, Carina almost sounded like her old self in those letters, full of life and happiness.

But now all of Scorpius' attention was focused on the youngest Potter. Her hair was a darker shade of red than James'. She had a childish innocence to her round face; she was mesmerising to look at. Scorpius kept staring at her, till Teddy came and ruffled up his hair.

He swatted away Teddy's hand before muttering, "Not the hair, Ted."

"Why? Are you trying to impress the _ladies?"_ Teddy asked suggestively, sharing a wink a with his father.

"Eww… Scor, please don't tell me you have kissed someone." Carina said making a face.

"Oh! You don't know?" Alex said materializing next to Teddy; his family in tow.

"What is there to know?" Carina asked.

"Scor here is in a relationship with Al, there." Alex said with a grin.

"No, we are not." Scorpius said quickly.

"Ah! The way he breaks my heart. I don't know why I keep going back to him." Albus said dramatically.

Lily, Carina and Lyra were in splits by now. James however made a face, "Oh of course! You would break my heart and go for the Harry Potter look alike, Scorpius. Traitor!"

Everyone else was on their knees as they tried to stem their laughter.

"Should I be worried?" Draco asked Teddy.

"You should be. The Malfoy name could probably die out." Teddy said with a grin.

Draco smacked him upside down in the head before turning to Astoria, "It isn't late." He told her seriously, "Maybe we should consider getting another one. Just in case, Father would kill me if there is no one to take the Malfoy name forward."

Astoria shook her head in disbelief, the kids were still laughing, Lily and Carina were squealing _"it hurts!"_ which propelled them to laugh even more.

"Has someone used a tickling charm on them?" Antlia asked, coming to stand next to Astoria with her mother at her heels.

"No, they were just fooling around." Teddy said loudly, which made them all laugh harder.

"Crazy the whole lot of them." She told Draco conspiratorially as she gave him a hug.

"Aren't we all?" Draco asked with a grin.

"When will they stop? This is getting creepy." Antlia said after watching them laugh for a while.

At her comment James looked up and wiped his eye, his face was red with laughter but the moment he saw her, he sobered up and sprang to his feet.

"Ah! Nott! Just the girl I wanted to see before going home for Christmas."

Antlia folded her arms, "What do you want Potter?"

James gave her a lopsided grin, "Nothing just wanted to wish a good Christmas." He said with a shrug. "I think I will go wait by the car. Do you want to come along Lils?"

Lily jumped off the trunk, said a quick goodbye to her friends and walked off arm in arm with James. Scorpius watched them go and felt a pang of regret, to him it felt like Lily took the light away with her. Quick goodbyes followed her departure, Teddy promised Draco that he would them on Christmas if not before.

* * *

Scorpius sat on his bed, reading a book when Carina crept into his room. She snuggled beside him and offered him a part of the chocolate bar she was eating. Scorpius grinned his thanks before taking a bite of the chocolate.

"How are you Carina? Really?"

"I am fine. I feel better. I still have a lot of recovering to do."

"And the urge?"

"It's there, sometimes it gets too much and I do vomit it all out but I am doing it lesser and lesser. And I feel hungry too."

"Shouldn't you have no urges at all?"

"No, Victoire and Mrs. Thompson say it is alright to have these urges, it will take me some time to recover completely."

Scorpius nodded. "Lyra and Lily have been really good friends. They would come, stay with me when things started getting difficult."

"I am glad you have such good friends then."

"I know I don't know why I didn't talk to Lyra before."

"You told them?" Scorpius asked curiously.

"Yeah. Victoire says, the more I talk about it, the easier it will be for me to get better."

"Is Victoire your mind healer too?"

"No. They wouldn't allow her to take my case anyway she is undergoing training right now. She is training under Mrs. Thompson, that's how she knows of my case. She is great. I like Teddy and her together. Lily hopes they would get married soon." Carina sighed.

"I know. I had a huge crush on her during my first year. I was so jealous of Teddy. Albus and Alex had the time of their lives with that one."

Carina laughed, "Have you looked at yourself? I mean you would have been such a midget to her."

"I reached her shoulder!" Scorpius protested. "And I will have you know, she was very kind to me after finding out that I had a crush on her. I think some part of me still has a crush on her."

"Does Teddy know?" Carina asked with a giggle.

"I dunno. Never talked to Teddy about it; I guess you understand why."

Carina nodded. "You didn't introduce me to your boyfriend though; I would have liked to meet him."

Scorpius shoved Carina, who rolled down the bed and climbed back on the bed laughing.

Scorpius tried to hide his grin but he couldn't when his sister looked so happy. He pulled her to him and gave her a bear hug, mussing her hair in the process.

"Anyway, what else did you do while I was gone?" Scorpius asked her.

"Oh! Got bored mostly, but mum and dad ensured that I spent a lot of time with Lyra, Viktor, Lily and Lily's friends. They have been coming over a lot while you were gone." Carina reported, "Scorpius! I have to show you something! Come on!" She said excitedly, scrambling out of bed.

"What? Now? Nina, you know mum and dad would kill us if they catch us." Scorpius yelped, following his sister nevertheless.

"They are in bed, silly. They won't catch us." Carina whispered as she pulled him along.

Scorpius realized that they were heading towards the Quidditch pitch, Carina quickly slipped off and came back with two coats and continued towards the broom shed.

"Nina, do you even know how to handle a minor broom because right now you are holding a Firebolt next gen." Scorpius said cautiously.

Carina grinned before mounting the broom and zooming away into the night sky. Scorpius watched in awe as his sister looped and zoomed through the pitch before doing a complete lap of the pitch and landing back gracefully. Sure, her movements were still jerky, but he was sure, come summer and a little practice, Carina would make a decent flyer.

"That was amazing Nina. Who taught you that? Teddy?" He asked.

Carina grinned devilishly, "No, Lily. She is an amazing chaser, you should see her play. She scored past Viktor, that's the only time I have seen him react." Carina gushed, "She has been teaching Lyra and me. Though, Lyra is a bit of a lost cause, but I didn't know flying could be this much fun. I feel SO free when I am in the air. I love it."

Scorpius felt a stab of jealousy course through him. Of course Lily taught her! Of course, she would listen to Lily!

"Of course!" Scorpius scoffed, hoping that his tone was playful and not dripping with the jealousy he felt. "I tell you for years that flying is wonderful and you don't give it a chance but Lily says it and there you are flying like a pro!"

"Scor?" Carina asked tentatively, "You okay?"

Scorpius looked at his sister and how vulnerable she looked and curbed his annoyance. He knew he should feel glad that Carina finally had someone who was such a great friend to her but it bothered him that she taught Carina how to fly. It had been Scorpius' dream, ever since Teddy and his dad had taught him how to fly, that someday he would be just as good a flying instructor to his little Nina.

"Yeah." Scorpius sighed after a long pause. "I am just tired and you must be freezing! What were you thinking, flying around in the middle of the night!"

Carina sighed and shook her head. "You are an oddball, do you know that?" She said walking beside him to the broom shed to put the broom back.

"And you are little Miss. Oddity Odd then?" Scorpius said in a sing song voice, before running ahead of her.

"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, you get back here!" Carina cried chasing after him, their laughter ringing in the silent night.

 **AN: So, last chapter till we see you next week. Please do read and review and if you like the story don't forget to favorite/follow us.**

 **Happy Reading.**

 **Eagerly waiting for your reviews and love.**

 **The fishes**


	4. Chapter 4

The YuleBall at Potter Manor was in full swing. Scorpius looked on from his seat. The Malfoys had been invited to the ball before but Draco, Astoria and Narcissa had always politely declined. Scorpius now knew why. It was the same as last year, though the hateful glares and mean comments had lessened, there were still those who would readily call him a Death Eater.

He looked at Nina, giggling in a corner with Lily, Lyra and a bunch of other girls he didn't recognize apart from Megan Dursley, a Ravenclaw from his year. Scorpius and Megan were friends of sorts, not because Albus and Rose forced them to be in each other's company. Megan and Scorpius became friends because a lot of the other students at Hogwarts bullied Megan for belonging to a family responsible for torturing Harry Potter as a child.

If Scorpius didn't know any better, he would have resented Mr. Potter too, but he knew that Harry Potter would be furious if he found out that people were bullying Megan for existing. He was surprised and intrigued by Megan's wisdom; the girl had taken all the nasty words and deeds in her stride. Things had died down after James and Albus joined forces to teach a couple of kids a well deserved lesson.

"What are you doing out here?" Victoire asked taking a seat next to him.

"Nothing. I was just thinking." Scorpius replied not taking his eyes off Carina.

"Don't worry. She is doing well. It will be fine in no time." Victoire said looking thoughtfully at the group of giggling girls too.

"I hope so."

"She told me about how much Lily and you helped her." Scorpius said after a long moment of companionable silence.

"I didn't do anything." Victoire replied with a smile, "Lily did it all."

"Really? You want me to believe a ten year old is a mind healer?"

Victoire laughed, "No. She came to me for advice. But how many ten year olds have that compassion?"

"Not you too." Scorpius groaned.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No. It's just that ever since I got back, all Carina has talked about is Lily and how great she is. Lily this, Lily that. Lily taught me how to ride a bicycle, Lily taught me how to play football, Lily taught me how to fly! What is SO special about Lily anyway?"

"If I didn't know any better I would say you are as jealous of Lily, as she is of you." Teddy said, sitting next to Victoire and kissing her cheek.

"Ugh! Please keep the display of affection for times when you are not around me. And why would I be jealous of a toddler?"

Victoire and Teddy exchanged an amused look.

"Okay, if you say so." Victoire said trying to suppress a grin.

"Vic, don't egg him you know he is jealous."

"Of course he is."

"I am not."

"So jealous he is going green." Teddy said with a sly grin.

Scorpius jumped to his feet, "I am not jealous of her!" He yelled before stomping away fuming at the preposterous idea.

It was later in the evening when Scorpius had visibly cooled off that he went looking for Carina so that they could return home. He was about to turn a corner when he heard voices that belonged to Carina and Lyra.

"Oh! Come on, Nina!" He heard Lyra whine, "Just try one."

"No, thanks. I like the low fat, bitter ones. Try some, they are actually good." Nina replied.

"Nina, I love you." He heard another voice say, "But these taste horrible. I will stick to the sugar coated balls of death. Thanks."

"Delia!" Another voice laughed, "They are not so bad!"

"Really Lils?"Nina teased, "Go ahead try some then."

"Okay, they are horrible. But some day you would end up stuffing yourself with our version of chocolate covered strawberries. I promise." Lily said.

"Did someone say chocolate covered strawberries?" Alex's voice piped up.

"Oh yeah! They are delicious, here try some." Nina said.

There was a moment of silence, followed by violent spitting and swearing.

"That's horrible! It's a monstrosity. Why would you do this to me Nina?" Alex asked horrified.

Scorpius could hear all of them laugh and his jealousy gnawed at him. Carina was his sister; he was supposed to be her best friend, her only friend. Here she was, laughing with his friends and her so called friends. It wasn't like he resented her making friends, but he didn't like the fact that she didn't need him to protect her all the time.

"I see twiddle dee and twiddle dum, but where is twiddle doo?" Lyra asked.

"Who?" Alex asked.

"Scorpius." Albus said.

"Oh yes! Where is my brother?" Nina asked, "I thought you three were like the three Musketeers."

"Ah! Nina! Quoting Muggle Authors, what would your ancestors say?" Someone chided Nina.

"Probably disown the whole lot of us." Nina said merrily. "But fraternizing with a Malfoy, what would your ancestors say, Delia?"

"Probably that we are family and I am getting to know my fifth cousin, twice removed. Also, that Malfoys were sharp business people thus, read the offer documents carefully."

A round of merry laughter followed this exchange as Scorpius fumed in his hiding place.

"Are you going to stand here and eavesdrop or are you going to join us?" A voice asked from his side.

"Hello again, Dursley and I don't know what you mean by that." Scorpius replied.

"Oh please! Get over yourself. You are not a smooth liar." Megan said, rolling her eyes. "Now are you coming or should I tell the others that you are eavesdropping on them?"

"I don't want to join them." He replied stubbornly, "I am waiting for Carina, we have to go home."

"Okay." Megan said with a shrug. "Suit yourself. Hey! Carina!" She called out, "Scorpius is here. He thinks it's time for you to head back home."

"Coming." Carina called back.

"You didn't have to do that." Scorpius hissed at Megan who smirked back.

"But I did. Thank me later, Malfoy." She said as the others reached them.

"Hi!" Lily said tiredly, as she arrived arm in arm with Carina. "Would you like a chocolate covered strawberry before you go?" She asked offering him a plate of chocolate covered strawberries.

"He would take the whole bunch." Carina said, "He is crazy about this stuff."

"He wouldn't because he is too full right now." Scorpius said glaring at Carina, who smirked at him.

"Come on! Since when have you been too full for chocolate covered strawberries?" Albus asked in disbelief.

"Since now, apparently." Alex said, looking Scorpius critically.

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with my brother?" Carina asked.

"Ha. Ha. I am in splits. Its so funny." Scorpius replied annoyed.

"Don't worry about them." Lily said, "They are just being stupid."

"No, they are not being stupid." Scorpius snapped, "Carina, are you ready to go? We are getting late."

"Woah there, Scor. Are you alright?" Albus asked alarmed at his friend's foul mood.

"Just peachy." He replied shortly, "Now can we go already. Come on." He said grabbing Carina's arm and dragging her away.

"Hey!" Carina protested but the look on Scorpius' face silenced her. She gave Lily a confused look before letting Scorpius drag her away.

Alex and Lyra followed soon and the group dispersed. Lily however, stood frozen at her spot, her eyes shining with tears.

"You okay there, Lils?" Albus asked.

"What did I do?" Lily asked, tears pouring down her eyes, "Did I say something wrong? Why was Scorpius so mad at me?"

Albus hugged her, "No. He must be really tired, also, some guests are really mean to him. Its not your fault. Don't worry about it."

Albus walked with Lily to the children's room. The room was already filled with the rest of the Weasley-Potter-Lupin clan. Victoire and Teddy were sitting in a corner with Dominique and Lucy, they weren't allowed to sleep in the children's room since they declared that they were dating each other.

"Hey, Flower! Why the long face? Is everything alright?" Teddy asked pulling Lily on his lap.

Lily snuggled into him and sniffed before nodding. The rest gave Albus quizzical looks.

"Oh nothing. Scor was in a bad mood and he kind of snapped at Lily and now she thinks he was mad at her."

"Come on, Lils."Dominique said with a sly grin, "If he was being mean to you, it means he likes you."

"Dom!" Lucy protested as Lily screeched, "eww!" and Albus snorted loudly.

"Lily, don't listen to Dominique." Victoire said.

"Of course I won't!" Lily said sounding horrified, "He is Carina's brother and Albus' best friend and Teddy's Cousin! He is like family. Eww. No. That is gross."

"I am glad we had that cleared up." Teddy said, "Now, Lily. Remember to look at every guy you ever meet the same way. Every one of us is related because we had common ancestors, Adam and Eve, so everyone is family."

Lily started giggling at this, as the other girls made noises of protest.

"Stop brainwashing her!" Lucy said, slamming her book down.

"He is not brainwashing her." Albus said smirking.

"Yeah! I am giving her true facts."

"You just had to add fuel to fire, didn't you?" Rose hissed in Albus' ear.

Albus grinned, "Would you like some popcorn to go, the show is starting." He replied.

"You are an idiot, Al. But this is going to be fun." Rose replied with a laugh.

"Teddy." Victoire said, raising her voice above the squabble between Lucy and Teddy. "You do realize that by your logic we are related and hence I cannot really be with you."

"Score! You go sister!" Lucy cheered.

"Eh! Wizards, especially Blacks were famous for inbreeding." Teddy replied tousling his hair carelessly.

"What's inbreeding?" Lily asked suddenly.

"Nothing you should be worried about, Lils." Teddy said hurriedly.

"Teddy Remus Lupin." Lily said, jumping up her hands on her hips, "You tell me what inbreeding means or I am asking Mum or Andromeda."

"That was a low blow, Lils." Teddy said giving her a hurt look.

"Then tell me already come on!" Lily said jumping impatiently, now joined by an equally curious Hugo.

"Well…" Teddy started, "In simple terms it means that cousins or siblings marry each other to keep the blood pure."

"Why would someone do that?" Hugo asked, his distaste visible.

"Well, some people believe that they are better than others and thus they would want to keep these better genes to just their family or people who are worthy."

"That is weird." Hugo said shaking his head.

"Yeah." Lily agreed, "I love Hugo and Jason and all of you, but I am not marrying anyone. That is just gross."

"Lily!" Several voices protested at the same time, soon after Dominique changed the subject and the conversation flowed easily.

The night soon gave into random conversations lasting till two in the morning. By the time Lily had fallen asleep on Roxanne's arm she had forgotten about Scorpius' rudeness.

Carina slept peacefully too, she had been a little upset with Scorpius' behaviour but she had brushed it off as a mood swing.

Scorpius however had stayed awake for long in his bed, his mood darker than ever. He had tried to tell himself that his shortness with Lily Potter was well found as she was trying to steal away his sister. But he couldn't get rid of the big, brown reproachful eyes that haunted him. He sighed tiredly, before writing a letter to Albus, apologizing for his behaviour. He knew he should have written a letter to Lily, but try as he might, he just couldn't bring himself to talk to her even through letters.

* * *

"I can't believe I still can't go to Hogwarts with you." Carina said indignantly as she sat on top of Scorpius' trunk.

"Relax, kid." Scorpius said ruffling her hair, "You will be there soon enough."

"But I want to go _now_!"

"You know, Carina is a lot like you." Andromeda told Narcissa as they watched the two children fondly. "I still remember the storm you used to brew when we left for school."

"Yes. I was very jealous back then. I thought I was missing out on the good life." Narcissa said with a smile.

"It seems unreal to me." Astoria said thoughtfully, "I cannot imagine a little Narcissa throwing a tantrum. I mean I can't imagine you throw a tantrum at all, you have always been so elegant and graceful."

"You know, even I can't imagine mum throw a tantrum at all." Draco said sipping his tea.

"Yes, well it is quite difficult to imagine all that now." Narcissa said, "I mean would you believe me, if I told you that Andromeda here, cursed off Guinevere Avery's hair during our spring ball, because she had been mean to Regulus."

"Yes. I can actually imagine her do that. However, Andromeda looks like about 18 years old in my mind." Astoria said.

"I was seventeen actually."

"Oh! They believe that you were the wild child but they won't believe that I could throw a tantrum." Narcissa muttered.

"Come on Cissy. We know you were the spoilt brat when we were children. I will always vouch for that."

"Oh so that's where he gets it from." Astoria said.

"Who?" Narcissa asked.

"Draco. He is a spoilt brat."

"I am not!" Draco protested loudly.

"You kind of are." Andromeda said with a smirk.

"I am not spoilt."

"Actually Dad, you kind of are." Scorpius called.

"I am not! Ask Carina."

Carina giggled, "Daddy you kind of threw a tantrum when the healer made us wait for 2 hours. But its okay, you are the good sort of spoilt."

"What is the bad sort of spoilt then?" Scorpius asked.

"You." Carina replied, "And don't give me that look. Lily was only being nice to you at the ball, you didn't have to be mean to her and you didn't even apologize."

"Scorpius!" Narcissa chided him, "What kind of behaviour is this? You were not only rude to your host, you did not even have the decency to apologize to her?"

"I apologized." Scorpius said loudly, blood flowing to his face. "I sent Albus a letter that very night."

"But you were mean to Lily weren't you?" Astoria asked.

"Yes." He mumbled.

"Scorpius, you know how we feel about mumbling. Speak up." Astoria commanded.

"Yes." He said loudly, "But I just can't apologize to her. I can't, I can't, I can't. I don't want to talk to her. I don't even like her!"

"Scorpius, no one is asking you to like her. You just have to apologize to her. Now, come along, we will go apologize right away and then you could floo back to school." Astoria said getting up.

"But-"

"No buts, young man. Do as your mother says." Narcissa chided.

Scorpius sent a pleading look to Draco. "I am sorry, Scor but your mother is right. You must apologize to the person you were rude to."

"You never apologized to Mr. Potter or Mrs. Granger-Weasley or the other Weasleys for being mean to them at school." Scorpius shot back.

"I-"

"He does have a point, doesn't he?" Narcissa said looking thoughtfully at Draco.

"Mum, no." Draco said getting up from his.

"I don't think this was up for discussion Draco. Now come along, let's start with apologizing to Mr. Potter then."

"You will find the whole lot there." Andromeda said. "They are all leaving for Hogwarts from the Manor."

"That's even better." Narcissa said brightly. "We could just take Scorpius' things with us. He could leave from there. Now come along Draco."

"Mum, may I please stay back with Lily for a while too?" Carina asked.

"Well, we will have to see dear. If Lily doesn't have plans you may."

"Thanks a lot Scor." Draco groaned as he watched his wife, daughter and aunt leave through the floo.

Scorpius smirked, "You should have just sided with me. It would have saved you a lot of trouble."

Draco gave him a funny look, "No, unpleasant as this task at hand is, I would rather do this and teach you the difference between right and wrong than take an easy route and let you have your way. Now come on, in you go."

"You know I am quite proud of you." Narcissa said, as soon as Scorpius vanished in the green flames. "You did what we could never do. Lucius and I never corrected your mistakes or set examples for you. You are a good father Draco, better as a parent than we were to you."

"That is not true mum. I realize now that parenthood doesn't come with a handbook. You did what you thought was best for me. I am doing what I think is best for them. Sometimes I wonder if that is good enough."

"All parents worry about that." Narcissa replied with a smile. "Now shall we?"

 **AN: So, I am sorry for such delayed updates, but I have a hectic work schedule. Anyway, please do read and review. If you are new here don't forget to follow or favourite us apart from writing up a review. Next up, I would either be updating Yours Forever Prongs or Lilies on your Graves. So hang in there.**

 **Hope you had a fun time reading this.**

 **Much love,**

 **The fishes.**


	5. Chapter 5

_Dear Scorpius,_

 _I think I am in love and sadly the man isn't even real! I just finished reading "Me before You" and I know that I am too young for it but Scorpius! I am in love with Will. I know you don't even know Will but I feel elated and heartbroken about this story. The girls and I plan to watch the movie, we are dragging Viktor and Hugo in too because Hugo has a muggle TV thing on which you could watch as many movies as you want. Scor, I promise you, Muggle technology is fascinating, it is almost magical._

 _I am writing this letter to you in the middle of the night, my mind is racing a hundred miles an hour. I am excited about the movie because it would clear up a lot of muggle terms for me. I have been listening to "One day by this muggle band called Kodaline" in a loop. Lily introduced me to the song, it is beautiful gives me a weird feeling like there is something missing in me and I want to fill it but I am happy with this gaping hole in me too._

 _Do you get what I mean? Lily says, she gets equally loopy after reading a good book, it takes her a lot of time to come to terms with her reality. I know our library is full of fascinating books but there is some beauty to the quite magic of muggle books. Mrs. Potter and mother promised they will take us shopping at muggle bookstores, I want to read as many books as I could._

 _Mrs. Granger- Weasley has been incredibly kind, she offered to help us with picking books. But since she had already helped Lily's other cousins with book selections, they offered to help us out with it instead. I am so excited Scor, I find books are as good as people. Each book is helping me get better, it's a miracle really._

 _Oh! In all my rant, I forgot to ask you about your new term. How is it going? Are you enjoying yourself? I have so much to tell you, I can't wait for you to come back._

 _Please come home soon. I miss you._

 _Love,_

 _The one and only_

 _Carina_

Scorpius frowned, sure this was one of the longest letters Carina had written to him and she sounded so much better but it was full of Lily and it bothered him to no end. Why was Lily everywhere he looked at? He leaned back in his chair as he thought about the day he had to apologise to Lily. It infuriated him that she had already moved on from the incident. How could she just shrug him off that easily? He had been wracked with guilt and she didn't spend one night wondering why he was rude to her. She had smiled good naturedly at his apology, given him a hug and skipped back to James. How utterly lost had he felt at that moment. That little redhead! Pretending to be better than him, pretending that he didn't matter as if he cared what she thought of him. Yet, the question plagued him, everyone he knew loved her to bits, were they blind to the girl's cunningness?

"Hey." Megan Dursley said taking a seat across from him, "Are you working on the Astronomy assignment?"

"No, I finished that. I am working on the Herbology assignment."

"Dang! I forgot we have that one coming up too."

"I don't get it, Dursley. How are you a Ravenclaw?"

"Why am I not surprised?" Megan muttered rolling her eyes, "Let me guess, its because I always forget when our Homework is due and I never start till the last moment."

"Yes."

"Well, Ravenclaws are creative and imaginative and wise and intelligent. I get my homework done and I do fine but I have better things to do than homework."

"Yeah? Like?"

"Like reading or practicing ballet or going down to Hagrid's he always has such interesting creatures around him or discovering magical history, did you know the most powerful patronus was a mouse?"

"A mouse? Isn't it awfully tiny?" Albus asked as Rose and he, pulled up chairs to join the discussion.

"It is not the size of the patronus that matters Al, it is the power of the wizard who casts it." Megan answered.

"Where did you read this?" Rose asked curiously.

"It was in a book in the history section, I read it three months ago, I don't remember the name of the book, sorry." Megan said apologetically, "It was something about the most powerful spells and their origin."

"Okay, thanks. Megan, do me a favour and give me the name of every book you have issued today."

"Why would she do that?" Scorpius asked surprised.

"So that Rose could check them out later, Megan has a knack for finding great books." Albus said rolling his eyes. "By the way, what are you doing here Scor? Don't you have Quidditch practice in ten minutes?"

"Damn! I forgot! Amanda would kill me." Scorpius groaned, hurriedly putting his things away.

"No, she won't. You are the best seeker we have." Albus assured him.

"I can't wait for next year. With you as chaser and me as seeker, we would be creaming these losers." Scorpius said with a laugh as he pointed at Megan and Rose.

"Hey! We will see about that!" Rose exclaimed, while Megan muttered that she doesn't really care about violent sports and went back to her book.

Scorpius was almost at the end of the corridor when he heard Megan call him back.

"What, you suddenly care about violent sports now?" Scorpius asked with a laugh.

She gave him an exasperated look, "No, you prat! I just wanted to tell you that I am here, if you wanted to talk about something. You looked peeved when I joined you at the table. I promise I won't judge."

"Err… Yeah. Thanks." Mentally erasing the idea of talking to Megan, Lily was her cousin too and he didn't think she would take kindly to his resentment against the youngest Potter.

* * *

"Morning!" Scorpius said cheerfully as he sat next to Albus.

Albus nodded, frowning slightly as he stared at the high table. Scorpius followed his gaze; Harry Potter was sitting at the high table along with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger-Weasley.

"Oh!"

Albus nodded unhappily as he pushed away his plate.

Alex was already packing some toast in a napkin when Aldwyn Selwyn took a seat across Albus and smiled maliciously at the boys.

"Oh look Potter! Your famous father is here." He said with a sardonic smile. "So, how does it feel like to be the blood traitor of the blood traitors? Has he disowned you yet?"

Albus stared at Selwyn, refusing to bow down to the fourth year.

"You need to watch your mouth, Selwyn." Scorpius hissed angrily.

"Or what Malfoy?" Selwyn asked with a sneer.

Scorpius was about to answer when Albus laid a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

"Don't let him bait you." Albus said calmly, "He is not worth it. Come on, let's get out of here."

"Yes. Listen to Potter, Malfoy. Run away, I don't know how losers like you ever got into our noble house anyway."

"Ah!" Alex chimed in, "You see to understand that you would need to use your brains, and I am pretty sure you lack them."

Before Aldwyn could reply, the three had turned and left the table with smirks on their faces.

"So, were you able to get it in his juice?" Scorpius asked casually.

"Of course!" Alex said rolling his eyes. "I am curious though, what does the powder exactly do, Albus?"

Albus smirked as Selwyn let out a surprised yell before transforming into a large purple toad, oozing a thick, foul smelling greenish liquid from his body. People recoiled from the toad as it hopped towards them, croaking loudly.

The rest of the hall burst into laughter as Selwyn's friends watched horrified, not daring to go near him.

"Potter!" Professor McGonagall's boomed through the hall. James looked up, trying to hold his laughter.

"Yes Professor?" He called, giving her a charming smile.

"Detention." Professor McGonagall said, "You too Misters and Miss Weasley."

"That's not fair!" Roxanne exclaimed, "You can't punish us for laughing, the whole hall was laughing at Selwyn."

"You know I am not putting you in detention for laughing at Mr. Selwyn. I am putting you in detention for pranking him."

"We did nothing Professor." Louise piped up.

"Yes. We are on a break." Fred declared proudly.

"On a break?" Megan whispered as she came to stand next to the boys. Albus nodded impatiently as they watched the scene unfold.

"You didn't prank Mr. Selwyn?" Professor Longbottom asked.

"No, Sir." James said, "Although we would like to pat their backs."

"How do I restore him?" Professor McGonagall asked agitatedly as spell after spell failed in restoring Selwyn back.

"You can't." Ron said his ears reddening as the hall stared at him. He cleared his throat loudly, "Err… It's one of our products Pro-err… Mine- err… Professor, it would wear off in some time."

"How long is some time?" Professor McGonagall asked testily.

Ron shrugged, "From 15 minutes to 4 hours depending on the strength."

At this Selwyn let out a loud croak and hopped towards Megan, croaking wildly.

"Selwyn," Megan said backing away from the toad. "I feel sorry for you, but you stink. I have absolutely no compassion for you." The three Slytherins had vanished from her side.

The hall burst into further laughter as Megan gathered her robes and jumped around trying to avoid the toad. Things calmed down when Professor McGonagall captured the toad in a cage and sent it away to Hospital Wing to recover.

"Professor?" Harry asked McGonagall.

"I am sorry Potter. Your son has taken after his namesakes." McGonagall said with prideful amusement before going back to her breakfast.

"What about my other son?" Harry asked with a smirk. Ron choked on his pumpkin juice, eyes wide with realization as Hermione thumped him smiling tightly, to hold back her grin.

"Albus? Oh! I haven't heard any complaint about him apart from the one time, he helped James prank other students for bullying Megan Dursley. He is a good child. Reminds me of you; polite, down to earth and fairly intelligent." Professor McGonagall said fondly.

Harry blushed wildly at the compliment as he watched Megan leave the hall.

* * *

"Hey, Potter!" Molly Weasley called striding towards her younger cousin, the Head Girl batch shining on her Ravenclaw robes with Lucy and Dominique in tow.

"Yes. Weasley?" Albus said innocently.

"Don't you play innocent with me Albie." Molly said with a grin, ruffling her cousin's unruly black hair.

"That was gross!" Dominique said crinkling her nose as she loosened her Gryffindor tie, "But a good prank all the same."

Lucy rolled her eyes, "Anyway, James is proud of you. We are having a lunch party at the lake. The four idiots are throwing it in your honour. You two are invited too." She added cheerfully, nodding towards Scorpius and Alex and exchanging a knowing glance with Albus.

"Wow!" Alex said looking awestruck. "James freaking Potter is proud of us! This is my dream come true!"

"And there he goes fanboying through the roof!" Albus muttered.

"How did he find out?" Scorpius asked.

"He figured it out. We know each other pretty well." Albus said with a shrug.

"I still don't get it." Alex said, "All of you are just so different, how do you even have a sane conversation?"

"Have you met my family? We don't have sane conversations."

* * *

"And here comes my genius little brother!" James exclaimed as Albus, Scorpius and Alex approached the rest of them under the tree that had witnessed the lives of all those that came before this generation.

"I am proud of the fact that someone has taken the responsibility of pranking people in school in our absence." Fred said patting the three boys' backs enthusiastically.

"But why are you on a break?" Megan asked, helping herself to some pie.

Fred, Roxanne, James and Frank Longbottom gave Louise sly looks before bursting into laughter.

Molly, Lucy and Dominique joined in the laughter as Albus shook his head incredulously.

"Louise is in luuuuuurve!" Frank said with a lopsided grin.

"I am not!" Louise said, blushing deeply.

"No, Frank." Roxanne teased, "He is just creepily obsessed with her."

"Roxie!" Louise protested.

"Anyway, who is this girl?" Dominique asked, "Oh! I hope not Lizzy Ackerman from our house. I like her, but I can't stand her crazy fan behaviour."

"No. Eww." Louise grimaced. "It's definitely not her."

"Is it Cindy Boot from Ravenclaw?"

"Hey." Fred exclaimed, "What do you have against Cindy?"

"Please! Have you looked at her hair?"

"It's Warrington." Albus said.

Scorpius threw out his juice and Alex choked on his sandwich.

"As in Amanda Warrington, the best chaser that our team has right now?" Alex spluttered.

"Yes." James smirked, thumping Louise's back.

"The one with shiny brown hair? Yeah, she is good enough for you. Why haven't you asked her out yet?"

"Because she hates him." Scorpius said exchanging a smirk with Albus.

"What?" Lucy exclaimed. "But why? Louise is a good student and he is the best Keeper Gryffindor has had since Oliver Wood himself."

"Lucy." Molly said with a grin, "Maybe that's why she hates him."

"Nope." Scorpius said, "That's not it. She is Lia's best friend and they hate these guys because they believe that the four of you are narcissistic, big headed, bullying prats."

"Yeah." Fred sighed unhappily, "So Louise is mending his ways and forcing us to do the same."

"Is that why you were being nice to Lia at the platform?" Scorpius asked James.

James shrugged guiltily, "We figured, if she approves of Louise, we would be able to get through to Warrington. This was Roxanne's idea."

"It's a good idea." Molly said, "We do tend to listen to our friends."

The lunch hour passed pretty quickly afterwards. The second years stayed behind for their free period as the other senior students left for their classes. Albus and Alex picked up twigs and pretended that they were sword fighting, Megan chose to sit under the tree with Rose and Scorpius and read the new book she had checked out of the library.

"I am bored." Scorpius said lazily, "Will the two of you please stop reading?"

"Do you want to talk about something?" Megan asked giving Scorpius a meaningful look.

"No." He grumbled.

"Of course you do." Rose said shutting her book, "That tone says as much."

"And now you are an expert on tones?" Scorpius asked.

"Yes. I spent some time with Andy and Vic." Rose fired back with a knowing smile.

"We are your friends, Scorpius." Megan said, "Just tell us if something is troubling you."

"Its nothing. You won't get it." He said pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Its Lily isn't it." Megan asked.

Scorpius eyes snapped open as Rose rolled her eyes.

"How-"

"Oh please! Give us some credit, we have known about it since the ball." Rose said, cutting his question short.

"But she is your cousin."

"And we love her." Megan said, "That won't change, no matter how you feel about her."

"I don't dislike her." Scorpius said with a sigh. "Or maybe I do. I don't know. It's just that Carina is my sister. I have always been her best friend, the first person she goes to when she needs help and right now I am not there to help her and it feels like Lily is replacing me in my own sister's life, it makes me so resentful."

Megan and Rose exchanged a look before laughing.

"Oh great! And now you are laughing at me." Scorpius said darkly.

"No. No. We are not laughing at you." Rose said sobering up.

"Yeah." Megan said, "It's just that Lily said pretty much the same things about you. She thinks you are taking away Albus from her. Alex and you actually, but mostly you."

"So? What? This is her revenge?"

"No!" Rose exclaimed, "Lily is not like that. She is a tough one to figure out but she has kind of accepted that Albus will move away from her. She is only trying to let him go by filling her life with more friends."

"So, she won't even fight for her own brother?" Scorpius asked aghast.

"She wants Albus to be happy. She will happily take the backseat if she thinks that would make Albus happy. In fact, she would do that for all of us." Megan explained.

"No one could be that selfless." Scorpius said.

"She is. She has always been like this." Rose said affectionately, "If you ask me, she is the weird one amongst us. If you think Albus dislikes attention, you should meet her. She prefers to melt with the walls, sometimes she is so quiet we forget that she is in the room."

"But Albus said she has a temper." Scorpius said.

"Yes," Megan said with a laugh, "That she has. But she likes being left alone when she is angry. She is weird that way."

"And you don't have to worry." Rose assured him, "She is not trying to steal Carina from you. She is just trying to help someone she has grown to care about."

"By sacrificing so much? By walking so many extra miles?" Scorpius asked, "She is only ten."

"She is generous that way. She does that for everyone. She is very mature for her age."

"This is ridiculous." Scorpius said, throwing his hands in air.

"What is ridiculous?" Albus asked flopping down next to Rose.

"Lily." Rose replied with a smirk.

"Oh yeah! I love her to bits but she is weird. Can you believe it? She was excited about the fact that her birthday falls on the day Julius Caesar was murdered." Albus said incredulously.

"Oh yeah! She said so in her last letter." Rose said.

"I told her that." Megan said with a laugh. "I found it in a book in the library here. It says, some prophecy was made, someone narrated this prophecy story to Shakespear and he wrote the same in his play."

"Caesar was a wizard?" Albus asked.

"No. His wife was a witch and a seer." Megan said.

The second years talked some more before heading for their classes for the afternoon.

It was right before dinner when Harry had got hold of his son and his friends and reprimanded them for bullying a fellow student before congratulating them on a brilliant prank. Harry even took Albus to a corner and stated that he understood that Albus would never prank anyone without good reason and that he trusted his son's sense of righteousness but it was still not right to humiliate someone publicly no matter how justified it was. Scorpius however was too busy obsessing over the mystery that Lily Potter was, as he laid in bed that night he fantasised about being the only one to uncover her secrets and showing everyone that she was not as saintly as everyone believed her to be.

 **AN: Hi, so another chapter. I am just trying to set all these characters before Lily enters the picture. Hope this makes sense. Anyway, read and review. Please do favourite/follow the story for more.**

 **Happy Reading**

 **Love,**

 **The fishes**


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey, Nina." Scorpius said sitting next to her under the tree. "So, how was first week of school?"

"It was good." Carina replied, "Takes a little getting used to."

"I still can't believe you made it to Ravenclaw."

"I can't believe Lyra got sorted into Gryffindor." Carina laughed. "I guess Uncle Blaise isn't too disappointed though."

The sorting for the batch of first years had been surprising. Lily and Carina had been sorted into Ravenclaw. Lyra to Gryffindor, Cordelia to Hufflepuff. Hugo went to Gryffindor with Lyra. Victor Nott and Jason Dursley joined Slytherin.

"I have always been curious about the Ravenclaw common room, will I get to see it now?" He asked with a smirk.

"If you are smart enough to answer the question correctly." Carina laughed, "I am just glad I have Lily."

"Yeah." He said with a scowl.

"You don't treat her any better, Scor."

"Why should I?" Scorpius muttered.

"Because she is a nice person. Albus treats me so well."

"Of course he would. No one can treat you badly, once they get to know you."

"Lily is the same. Get to know her at least."

"Fine."

"Good." Carina said, "Now I have to go to the library to study with Lily, Stephanie, Lyra, Delia, Jason, Victor and Hugo. I will see you later. Okay?"

"Yes."

"And please, for me, try at least."

"Fine."

"I love you, Scor."

"I love you too."

* * *

Scorpius was out for a midnight hot chocolate when he saw her sitting on one of the benches in the kitchen.

"What are you doing down here?" He asked incredulously.

"Nothing. I came to meet Winky." Lily replied.

Scorpius followed her gaze and his question was answered. Winky was a very filthy elf, she was wearing a skirt, shirt and a hat and he couldn't get the colour of her clothes. She was sitting by the fire, drinking butterbeer.

"Who is she?" He whispered, afraid of gaining this elf's attention.

"Come, sit down." Lily offered.

"Well, who is she?" Scorpius whispered taking his seat.

"She is an elf. Aunt Hermione told me about her. She belonged to the Crouch family. Barty Crouch Sr. freed her after the Quidditch World Cup in 1994-"

"The one where the dark mark came back." Scorpius interrupted, "And all hell broke loose?"

"Yes. Apparently, Barty Crouch Jr, ws a death eater and had died in Azakban. In reality his father had smuggled him out of Azkaban and kept him under the imperius curse."

"How do you know all this?" Scorpius asked, "Albus never told us about any of this."

"Because he never really paid attention to all the stories." Lily replied, "For him the story of our father and Voldemort was enough."

"Then, how do you know so much?" Scorpius asked curiously.

"I asked the right source." She replied with a smirk. "My mother doesn't believe in hiding things from us. She would give a story from as many view points as possible and then leave you to decide how you feel about it."

"So, what happened to Winky?" Scorpius asked, eyeing the elf nervously.

Scorpius listened with growing wonder as Lily continued with her phenomenal story of what Winky stood for and what she let lose. As the night wore on, Scorpius asked for more stories and Lily obliged. They had moved from stories of the war to the stories of Lily and James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, even Fred Weasley I.

"Well, well!" James said as he walked to the table. "Isn't this cozy."

"You prat!" Lily exclaimed with a laugh. "Why were you looking at the map in the middle of the night?"

"What map?" Scorpius asked.

"It's a family secret." Louise piped up appearing next to James.

"So, naturally everybody knows about it. I am surprised Albus didn't tell you, despite the fact that he would inherit it after my graduation." James added.

"But what map?" Scorpius asked.

"The Marauder's map." James replied, laying the map on the table. Scorpius had never seen something like it, the map was a map of Hogwarts and it showed where everyone was!

"This is brilliant!" Scorpius exclaimed, "Where can I get one?"

"You can't." Louise sighed. "This was made by the Marauders who are long dead."

"Who were the Marauders?"

"Our grandfather and his friends." Lily piped up.

"It's a long story. I will tell you about it sometime." She said, cutting off his question. "So, where are Fred and Roxanne?" she asked.

"Setting the trap." James answered.

"And what are you doing here?" Scorpius asked.

"Getting refreshments." Louise answered.

"What are you doing here, Lil?" James asked curiously, "Not that I am not proud of the fact that you are breaking rules in your first month."

Lily grinned. "I came to see Winky."

James and Louise groaned. "Not again!" Louise muttered.

"Hey!" Scorpius exclaimed.

"Scor," James said, "Do you know about spew?"

"Spew?"

"It is S.P.E.W!" Lily exclaimed. "It's a society that aunt Hermione started to ensure that elves have rights."

"So, now they do." Scorpius said. "And she was right to do so."

"Yes." James sighed, "But she needs to understand that some people are beyond our reach and help. Some don't even need our help."

"Winky, is one of them." Louise said, "She is beyond our reach."

"Looks like it." Lily sighed.

"No luck?" Louise asked kindly.

"None." Lily sighed.

"Cheer up!" James said, "You can only help those who want to help."

"Come on! We will drop you back." Louise said.

"Can't." James said, looking at the map. "We need to get back to help Freddy and Roxanne. It's almost time. Lil, will be fine by yourself? Take the map, we know our way."

"Yeah. I will be." Lily said, "Just promise me that it would be an epic prank."

"You got it, kid!"

"Wait!" Scorpius said, "I will drop her back. You guys go ahead."

Lily and Scorpius walked in friendly silence. Scorpius peeked at Lily. He was impressed by the girl. She didn't seem as bad to him now. Maybe he was wrong about her.

"So, Lily…" He said uncertainly, "I realized this is the first time we have had a real conversation."

She smiled.

"And I enjoyed talking to you. You are not so bad."

"Thank you, Scorpius. You are not that lousy either."

"So… friends?" Scorpius asked.

"Yes, sure."

They spent the rest of the path chatting amicably with each other. They reached the foot of the Ravenclaw tower without any incident. Lily handed the map to Scorpius to help him get back safely and asked him to pass on the map to either James or Albus the next day. Scorpius watched Lily climb up the stairs to her common room. He liked her, she was a funny kid with the most outrageous stories ever.

"Hey, Lily." He called.

"Yeah?"

"You think you could narrate some more stories to me?"

"Sure."

"How about you meet me in the library after dinner tomorrow?"

"Sure. Okay. I will see you then. Goodnight Scorpius."

"Goodnight, Lily."

* * *

Scorpius couldn't hide his grin as he walked back to the dungeons. He did not know why he was so happy about his agreement with Lily but as he got in his bed, he felt nothing but deep satisfaction.

"Boo!" Scorpius said, as he grabbed Lily's shoulders from behind.

"Scorpius!" She exclaimed, her voice a little higher.

"Lily!" He mimicked with a smirk.

"I don't know why I put up with you." She muttered, going back to her book.

Scorpius lounged lazily in the seat next to her. It was almost Christmas and Scorpius and Lily had developed a daily ritual of meeting up at the end of the day. What had started as a story telling session in the library had developed into a deep friendship, something that surprised their siblings to no end.

"Hey, Lil?"

"Hmm…"

"Tell me about the love story of Artemis Potter and Cassiopeia Malfoy, please."

"Scor, you have requested for that story a hundred times. Why do you love it so much?"

Scorpius shrugged. "I don't know. It's just weird to imagine someone who was trained to be as stuck up as my grandfather could become such a warm person."

"You haven't even met your grandfather." Lily pointed out.

"I have. I go with dad every year." Scorpius sighed. "Please don't tell anyone."

"Not even Albus?"

"He knows." Scorpius replied. "But don't tell Nina, I don't want her to be a part of this."

"So, what's he like?"

Scorpius shrugged. "Crazy I guess. He has this crazy look when he sees me. Sometimes he treats me as if I am his own son. And the things he says. Malfoys this, Malfoys that! It drives me mad."

"He is who he is." Lily replied with a shrug.

"He is murderer and a lunatic, that's what he is." Scorpius muttered. "I don't know why dad insists on seeing him."

"I guess because that's Mr. Malfoy's father." Lily replied, "No child would ever give up on their parent. Your grandfather never treated you badly, did he?"

"No. It almost looks like he loves me."

"Maybe he does." Lily said.

Scorpius scoffed, "Despite what he is?"

"Dad says the world is not black or white." Lily said, "You disliked me for the longest time and yet I had people who loved me with all their hearts. Didn't I?"

"Yes."

"And for the life of you, you couldn't understand why no one really ever saw through me, like you did."

"Yes. But what's your point?"

"That even the worst people have some redeeming quality."

"You sound older than 11." Scorpius accused.

"I spent a lot of time with Dad and reading a children's book on the life of Buddha." Lily replied.

"Who is Buddha now?" Scorpius whined.

And like clockwork, Lily launched into the story of the boy who was destined to either become the greatest of all kings, or the greatest of all human beings. Soon, they were joined by Albus, Alex, Lyra, Carina, Hugo, Megan, Rose and Jason. They listened with rapt attention as Lily painted pictures in their minds with her words and stories.

Scorpius sighed as he lay in bed that night thinking about Cassiopeia Malfoy. He wondered if the right person could make all the difference. He sometimes let himself imagine an alternative world where his grandfather was not a death eater and his father wasn't forced to become one. He painted a world where his family was not torn apart as the after effects of a war. A world where his name didn't inspire mistrust and hate, he had seen enough of that hate and bullying at Hogwarts. He knew Carina would face them too but he let himself escape in a world where his sister was not bullied for being a Malfoy.

 **AN: So another chapter done. Leave a review to let me know what you thought of it. It's a little bland but I trying. Please fav/follow if you like the story or me.**

 **Hope you had a good time reading it.**

 **Much love.**

 **The fishes**


	7. Chapter 7

_Two years later_

Scorpius groaned as he lay in bed. The summer was not going according to him. His father had grounded him for a month for setting up a portable swamp in a school corridor and then throwing some students in it. Scorpius had argued that the said children were bullying prats in general, but both his parents felt his prank had gone too far. While Scorpius felt his punishment was completely unjustified, he had received long letters from Alex and Albus telling him about the amount of chores they were given on top of being grounded. So while, fifteen year old Scorpius sulked at being grounded, he had thanked his stars that their parents had not talked to each other about setting up punishments.

It had been three weeks since he had seen his friends. None of Carina's friends were visiting them either. Rose and Hugo were off on a holiday to India with their parents. His only comfort was Victor who visited time and again but not as much as Scorpius would have liked because he was busy covering up for his sister. In a humorous twist of events, it turned out that Warrington was mad at Louise because she had a crush on him and she didn't want to admit to it. Once that was cleared and the happy couple started spending time with each other, Antlia was forced to spend time with Fred and Roxanne Weasley and James Potter. Given the number of arguments James Potter and Antlia Nott had everyone assumed that one of these days they will be together. Till one fine day during breakfast Scorpius' in fourth year, when James shouted at her in the Great Hall for being too thick to notice that Fred was trying so hard to change for her. What conspired next could be anybody's guess but by the end of the year Antlia Nott and Fred Weasley were dating each other and disgustingly so.

Now with the summer break and their respective internships, Antlia interning under Miss. Morag to be a curse breaker and Fred training with the Tornadoes in a summer camp for future Quidditch stars. The two had to sneak around a lot to avoid the press, their families and find time for each other. Roxanne and Victor were pulled into the net to cover for their lovesick siblings. Scorpius had taken immense pleasure in teasing Antlia about her parents' reaction once they found out that she was crazily in love with a Weasley. Theodore Nott may have liked Ginny Weasley enough but he genuinely believed that the twins were flashy, bigheaded idiots.

Scorpius lay in his bed, he knew it was near lunch time but he didn't want to get out. He still had to figure out what he would do with his day. He was surprised that Carina thought he was an annoying sibling now. In any case, she had packed off and left to stay with Longbottom as soon as they had landed home. Cordelia, Lily, Lyra and Carina were going to spend a week each at one of the girls' place. Scorpius had received a letter from Albus a couple of weeks ago about entertaining the girls at his home. Scorpius figured, Carina would be returning home soon. He sighed as he pushed himself off his bed, his stomach growling with hunger.

After a quick shower he padded down to the kitchen to hear tinkering laughter emanate from the door.

"Scor!" Carina exclaimed excitedly as she ran into him.

"Hey there." He said, catching her and smiling into her hair. He would never get tired of Carina's hugs. "Miss me?"

"Like you didn't." She grinned.

"Now, Come on. I am hungry." He said with a laugh, dragging her with him.

He looked at the girls sitting at the kitchen table already halfway through lunch. He stared at them again, all of them looked different, like something had happened to them in the three weeks. He took his seat in between Lily and Carina, appraising both girls critically.

"What?" Lily asked self consciously.

"Nothing." Scorpius said with a frown, "It's just all of you look different."

Lily and Carina exchanged sly glances, their eyes alight with mischief as they batted their eyelashes.

"Well!" Carina said smiling sweetly.

"What?" Scorpius asked, after swallowing a mouthful of his food.

"Umm…" Lily started. "We have now reached the permission-to-visit-Hogsmeade age."

"Lovely-dates- at- Madam- Puddifoot's- age." Lyra sang as Scorpius paled, his eyes narrowing slightly as he looked at Carina.

"The dreamy age of falling in love." Carina sang clapping her hands and sighing, giving Scorpius a dreamy smile.

"The age when boys don't have cooties anymore." Cordelia added, "And kisses may pop your toes."

Scorpius covered his ears. "There will be no dating or kissing." He said loudly.

"But Scorpius!" Lily shrieked, imitating the shrill tones of some of the girls that prey on Albus regularly. "You can't stop love!"

"Yes. Romeo and Juliet met when they were our age." Cordelia commented.

"And what a beautiful love story." Lyra said with a soppy smile.

"They committed suicide after knowing each other for just one day." Scorpius snapped.

"Yes. But love will find its way." Carina drawled, "I hope it finds me soon."

"Nina!" Scorpius cried, "You are a baby. Where is dad when you need him the most?"

"Carina!" Astoria Malfoy said walking into the room, "Stop teasing your brother."

"But mum, it's fun." Astoria said with a pout.

"He looks like he is going to pop a vein." Astoria pointed out.

"But he took it better than your brothers, Lily." Cordelia said conversationally.

"James looked like he was going to throw a fit." Lily said snickering.

"I am surprised at Albus though." Lyra said, "I didn't expect him to react this way. I thought he was the cool one. With the whole I trust you with your life attitude. But he looked positively pained."

"And did you look at Teddy?" Cordelia said giggling madly, "He looked horrified."

"Frank took it surprisingly well." Lily added, grinning evilly at Scorpius, who had gone back to eating his food.

"That's because we had to spell the changes out for him." Cordelia said, "That boy is thick. I don't know how he gets good scores."

"But Alex was the coolest." Carina declared as their laughter subsided.

"Why? What did he do?" Scorpius asked.

"Nothing." Carina replied.

"He just looked at us and said and I quote 'You girls would turn into some really fit birds. Boys would be falling all over at your feet. It would be fun to watch them stutter and mumble and embarrass themselves. If someone gives you trouble, you let us know. Cool?'" Carina smirked at Scorpius' nonplussed expression.

"He is showing us up. That prat." Scorpius said, "Don't worry Ly, he would secretly curse the nutter's balls off."

"Scorpius!" His mother chided him.

"Mum." He whined, "They are talking about dating people. They are midgets, knock some sense into them."

"Thirteen is a perfectly acceptable age to start dating. I went on my first date when I was thirteen. He was a very sweet boy too, his name was-"

"I don't want to hear it!" Scorpius said loudly.

"Women are evil." He groaned as everyone around him started laughing raucously.

* * *

"Dad?" Scorpius asked tentatively as he knocked on the door of his father's study. "May I come in?"

Draco looked up at his son and frowned. "Since when have you been so well mannered? Seeking permission to enter my study and all that?"

Scorpius grinned, rubbing the back of his neck, a habit he picked up from Albus.

"Err… I just wanted to let you know that I have finished and revised all my homework and done extra reading."

"Very good." Draco said with a knowing smirk.

"Err…"

"Yes?"

"Umm… The girls are all here." Scorpius said rocking on his heels.

"Yes." Draco said fondly, "They have livened things up, haven't they?"

"Yeah… Yeah, sure. But umm…"

"Scor."

"Umm… Look Dad, I love Nina." Scorpius said, "I really do and Lyra is like a cousin. Delia is a good friend and I am _really_ fond of Lily. She is one of my best friends. Individually I like these girls but together they are a nightmare!"

"Come on." Draco said, "Don't you think you are exaggerating. They aren't as bad as Albus, Alex and you."

"Worst, Dad." Scorpius said shaking his head.

"What are you on about?" Draco asked confused.

"Well, they were all talking about boys and dating." Scorpius said horrified, "Dating! Bloody midgets! And they want to start dating. Why are you laughing?"

"Nothing, nothing." Draco chortled. "I had the biggest crush on Daphne when I was thirteen."

"I did not need to know this." Scorpius said, making a face in distaste.

"Please. It's not as if you haven't had a crush on anyone."

"Apart from Victoire, no one." Scorpius said honestly, "And even then, I just thought she was pretty cool."

"Maybe you haven't met someone worthy enough." Draco replied. "What about your friends?"

"Albus generally avoids girls like the plague. And Alex has had the longest crush on Chelsea Montague, it's kind of pathetic really." Scorpius replied.

"That's why you are here, aren't you?" Draco asked.

"Please." Scorpius said eagerly, "I have behaved myself these past weeks, may I please go see them?"

"I guess you could. Don't tell your mother." Draco said, "Let me talk to Blaise, I think he would let Alex go. And I will ask Teddy to ask Potter to let Albus out too."

"You are the best." Scorpius said jumping to his feet and almost hugging Draco, he held himself just in time.

"Oh, I see." Draco said, giving him a mock glare, "You are too old and cool to hug your father now. Aren't you?"

Scorpius grinned, rumpling his hair, before giving his father a fleeting hug.

* * *

"Oh, thank Merlin!" Albus exclaimed as Scorpius stepped out of the fireplace at Potter Manor.

"I know!" Scorpius said, grinning widely at Albus, thumping his back.

"James is out. Lily is at your place. Everyday has been a torture." Albus whined.

"You know what Megan, I regret pitying this prat." Rose Weasley said loudly, entering the room with Megan Dursley in tow.

Albus stuck his tongue out at them, as they hugged Scorpius.

"So, where is Alex?" Megan asked, "I thought he would be coming in with you."

"Probably trying to make us look bad." Scorpius said with a shrug.

"Why?" Rose asked rolling her eyes, "What did he do?"

"The prat went and told the girls that they would all look pretty fit soon enough and that it was perfectly cool for them to date as many boys as they wanted."

"He- what?" Albus gasped in horror as Rose and Megan snickered.

"Come to think of it." Megan said, "He is actually pretty cool. I am so glad I don't have an older brother."

"Yeah me too." Rose said, "But if I were to have one, I would rather it be someone like Alex."

"Oi!" Albus said, "Literally every Weasley older than you looks at you like a little sister, Rose. That includes Fred, Louise and James. And Megan, you are as good as James' little sister which makes them look out for you too."

"Why?" Megan whined.

"It's not as if you have a boyfriend." Scorpius said, "So, why are you whining?"

Megan blushed and Rose smirked.

"When did this happen?" Albus wondered aloud, "How is it that we don't know?"

"Because it is none of your business, Al." Megan shot back.

"Oh! Defensive, are we?" Albus grinned, his eyes shining with mischief.

"Albus. Severus. Potter." Megan said with her hands on her hips, "If you do anything. _Anything,_ I swear you would regret-"

"He won't do anything." Rose cut in grinning triumphantly at Albus, "Or a certain Herbology professor would hear about things."

Scorpius watched in amusement as Albus turned red and Megan and Rose exchanged identical evil grins.

"What?" Scorpius asked with growing understanding and excitement. "Rose, what do you know?"

"Just that- Ow!" Rose exclaimed, nursing her foot.

"Nothing." Albus said, "Rose and Megan were just leaving."

"Come on, Al." Scorpius said with a smirk. "I am your best friend. Your brother in arms; your partner in crime. I am the Ron to your Harry- mmmphmph"

"Dramatic much?" Albus asked slapping his palm on Scorpius' mouth.

Scorpius rolled his eyes and looked pleadingly at Albus.

"That look doesn't work with me, Malfoy." Albus said shoving Scorpius.

Scorpius gave the look to Rose and Megan and the two girls folded under pressure. Albus threw his hands in the air and turned his back petulantly to the group.

"Albus has a crush." Megan squeaked excitedly. "On Cordelia Longbottom."

"No way!" Alex exclaimed, stepping out of the fireplace, making the rest of them jump.

"Yes way." Rose said, rushing ahead to give Alex a hug.

"You have grown!" Megan exclaimed, giving Alex a hug.

"Prat!" Scorpius said affectionately, holding Alex in a headlock.

"You absolute wanker!" Albus said, hitting Alex upside on the head.

"Hey!" Alex exclaimed, "What did I do?"

"Did you have to go and tell the girls that they can have as many boyfriends as they wanted?" Scorpius asked.

"You guys are dumb!" Alex stated.

"How?" Albus demanded.

"I will tell you later." Alex said, giving the two boys meaningful looks.

"Don't worry." Megan said patting Rose's arm, "I will coax this thought out of him." She sent Alex a deliberate wink. "Now come on! Let's go to the lake."

"What just happened?" Scorpius asked as the three boys watched the two girls walk away.

"Oh! Hell no!" Albus groaned shoving Alex.

"What?" Alex asked distractedly.

"You bloody wanker. You just had to go and get in relationship with my cousin."

"Its not my fault that you are related to half the people in our year." Alex said.

"Your ancestors must be rolling in their graves." Scorpius said.

"I think they rolled enough when dad married mum." Alex replied with a wide grin. "But I am not in a relationship with Megan. She has been teasing me like that ever since I asked her to flirt with me in front of Montague."

"And that's pretty hypocritical of you, Potter." He added, "You like your Godfather's daughter."

"I know." Albus sighed, running a hand through his hair, making it messier than it normally was. "If James finds out, I will never hear the end of it."

"I would be worried about Frank." Scorpius said.

"Yeah. That's why no one can know." Albus said.

Alex scoffed, "Have you even talked to her? Does she know?"

"Of course, she doesn't!" Albus said, looking incredulously at Alex. "What with Lily in the house, I couldn't have said anything! She would have started picking out the wedding flowers!"

"Crazy witches." Scorpius muttered. "I am glad this madness hasn't reached me yet."

"The day it touches you, it would be glorious." Alex said dramatically.

"Yeah." Albus joined in, "Time would stand still, the world will suddenly look more colourful and people would be playing violins in the background."

Scorpius shoved both his best friends and walked away.

* * *

"Hey, where is Scorpius?" Victor asked barging into Carina's room at the Malfoy Manor.

The girls looked up from their various tasks and shrugged.

"Out." Carina said finally, "He got his freedom back a little early."

"Oh! Thank Merlin!" He exclaimed, "I love him but the prat was getting on my nerves."

"How is Lia?" Carina asked, rolling over to where he sat as the other girls continued with their books.

"Good. Fred and she are driving Roxanne and me insane." He whined.

Lily grinned. "When the parents do find out, it is going to be epic!"

"Speak for yourself. My dad would probably skin me alive for not telling him." Victor muttered.

"Oh come on!" Lyra said, "It won't be so bad. Uncle Theo is quite a reasonable man."

"That's because he is your Godfather. You do no wrong. I am his son and am always wrong."

"You are just being dramatic." Carina said rolling her eyes.

"I have a question." Cordelia said, "Why mustn't we add boomslang skin to a wart cure potion at minimum temperature during the day but can do so at night?"

Victor was about to answer when Lyra spoke up.

"I thought Albus helped you with your potions homework." She said slyly as Lyra and Lily sported identical smirks.

"He did." Cordelia replied, blushing hard. "I was just fairing it out but I can't find this in my notes."

"Am I missing something?" Victor asked as the other three girls continued to smirk at Cordelia's red face.

"No." Cordelia squeaked, eyes wide in embarrassment.

"You like Albus, don't you?" Victor asked his brows furrowed. "What in the name of Merlin is wrong with you lot?"

"What did we do?" Lily asked.

"Well, if my sister wasn't bad enough. Now I will have to sit and listen to you guys talk about boys." He whined.

"You don't have to." Carina said, "There is just one boy. None of us want anything to do with boys."

"Well good." He said, "Anyway, I am off to meet Hugo and Jason. I will see you girls later."

"You guys are useless." Cordelia muttered throwing a pillow at Lyra as Carina and Lily laughed.

"Oh relax!" Lily said, "It's not like he would go tell anyone."

"He won't, right?" Cordelia asked anxiously, "Merlin, it would be so embarrassing."

"My brother likes you too." Lily teased, "I have never seen him blush that much."

"He is just shy." Cordelia said softly, looking at her hands, "I am sure he has better options."

"You listen to me, young lady." Carina commanded, as Lyra and Lily made noises of protest. "I wasted a lot of time doubting myself and I sure as hell will not allow one of my best friends to do that to herself. You will go out there with your head held high and if Albus Severus Potter acts ridiculous, I will ask Scorpius to turn him into a toad."

"Hey, I can do that too." Lily said, "If my brother is anything less than decent to you, it's a bat-bogey for him."

"But Lily, he is your brother." Cordelia protested.

"And you are my friend and no one has the right to string you along, especially my brother."

"I- Thank you." Cordelia said solemnly. "This means a lot."

"Okay!" Lyra said holding her hands up, "That's enough mushy things for the day. Now, who wants to go fly out?"

"Since when have you been interested in flying?" Carina asked jumping to her feet.

"Since all of you made it to your teams." Lyra replied.

"Boy, am I excited about not being a reserve anymore." Cordelia muttered.

"Wait, till you play in your first match." Lily said excitedly, exchanging a grin with Carina.

Lily and Carina were chaser and seeker for the Ravenclaw team, and Cordelia was a keeper for the Hufflepuff team.

* * *

"So, you mean to say that you act supportive in front of the girls while you would hex any guy that so much as looks at Lyra?" Scorpius asked, draining his butterbeer mug at the Leaky Cauldron. The boys were making the most of their day together. They had moved to the Leaky Cauldron, after Rose and Megan had left them to do whatever girls did together.

"Yup!" Alex chirped.

"That's actually kind of brilliant." Albus said, as James, Louise and Fred nodded their agreement.

"What kind of Slytherins are you?" Alex asked skeptically.

"The stupid kind." James said smacking Albus upside in the head.

"Hey!" Albus complained, "You could have come up with something too. Don't you call yourself Marauder 2.0 or something?"

"I don't agree with this madness in the first place. Nor do Fred and Roxanne." Louise stated

Everyone stared at Fred who shrugged.

"I have a formidable twin sister. I would be mad to meddle in her affairs."

"That's the difference!" Alex argued, "Louise is the youngest and you have a twin. Younger siblings are sort of your responsibility especially baby sisters."

Fred nodded thoughtfully, as James waved someone over.

"Hey, what's up?" Frank Longbottom said, joining the boys.

Albus busied himself with his drink as everyone greeted Frank. No one seemed to miss anything, but Alex smirked and Albus rolled his eyes discreetly. James and Fred exchanged a look, they had to get Albus alone, soon.

"The girls were a menace." Frank swore as Louise filled him in. "I never thought Delia and date would come in one sentence, this soon."

"I hear you." Scorpius sighed, "It's like till yesterday, Nina was a tiny, little thing dragging her dragon behind her as she followed me around the house and now she is talking about dates."

"You didn't expect her to be a pipsqueak forever, did you?" Louise asked, clearly amused.

"No. But thirteen is too young to date." Frank declared.

"Excuse me!" Fred exclaimed, "But weren't you drooling after Sarah Corner, when you were thirteen?"

"That was different!" Frank exclaimed as everyone snorted.

"How?" Louise asked with a sardonic smile.

"Whose side are you two on?" Frank demanded.

"These two sods are traitors to the cause." James muttered, smacking Louise upside in the head.

"Look, I care about Lily too. I would hate to see any of them get hurt." Louise said, "But we can always do something after someone hurts them."

"I agree." Albus said, "She is more than capable of taking care of herself and boys her age are stupid. But I am worried about the guys our age who could take an interest in her. She is entirely too young for that."

James quirked an eyebrow but did not comment.

"I would wring such a tosser's neck. Won't bother with hexing him." Frank muttered.

"Oh come on! Not all boys our age are randy." Scorpius said lightly. "Look at Al. Doesn't even look at women."

"That's because most girls want to date the son of Harry and Ginny Potter." Albus muttered, "James filters them out just as much."

"But I do go for an occasional snog." James argued, "What about you?"

"He is our virgin child." Alex quipped, making everyone laugh.

"Albus is just one decent bloke." Frank said, "I would rather he date her than anyone else."

Albus choked on his butterbeer and started coughing loudly.

"Now, why don't you date Delia, Al?" Alex crooned, thumping his back.

Albus glared at his best friends who had an innocent smile on their faces.

"I am sorry, Frank." Albus said hoarsely, punching James' arm. "My best friend is a git."

Frank waved it off with a grin as he stood up to go back to his work.

"Seriously, Al?" Fred asked as soon as Frank was out of earshot.

"Shut up!" Albus snapped, blushing slightly.

"Our Delia?" James asked, "You have taken after dad. No doubt. Imagine what the newspapers would say."

"They would say nothing, because you can't tell anyone." Albus said, looking quite alarmed, "Merlin, guys! Don't you remember how horrible it was for Teddy and Victoire and they weren't even dating then. It could have damaged their relationship."

"But won't they find out when you take her out on a date?" Louise asked.

"Who said anything about dating her?" Albus asked confused.

"You fancy a girl, Al." Alex said, "It's the obvious step."

"I don't see you taking that step. Besides Lily, Neville, Frank, Dad and Mum would kill me if it turns out that I strung her along."

"So, what are you going to do?" Scorpius asked.

"Sigh like a lovesick fool when he sees her, pine for her, curse every boy that approaches her for a date, be a world class prat." James replied, ticking things off his finger.

Albus boxed his shoulder. "What do you want me to do?" He demanded, "Make a prat of myself like Granddad James?"

"That would be a sight." Fred said approvingly as Louise and James snickered.

"Why?" Alex asked perplexed, "What did your grandfather do? Merlin's Pants! I never saw James Potter as anything more than a dignified war hero."

"I have been in awe of him ever since I first met his portrait at your place." Scorpius said reverently. "A prankster, an auror, war hero to boot!"

"That's pretty much all our families." Louise said looking amused.

"You have no idea how freaked out every pure blood in our year was." Scorpius said, "We were going to house with Harry and Ginny Potter's son. We thought he would be just as mean as every witch or wizard we had met before. One threatened to hex Alex and I when we were seven and wandering around Diagon Alley. We were never allowed to magical public places."

"You didn't go out at all then?" James asked looking horrified as the two shook their heads.

"We couldn't go out in magical Britain either." Fred said, "But our parents took us to Muggle places. We never even knew our own fame till we started Hogwarts."

"Well, our parents weren't raised to adapt to the muggle world." Alex said shrugging, "So, we used to just visit each other a lot as children. That's why we know everyone. We had to endure a lot of prats who were still taught about blood purity throughout our childhood. Boy, am I glad my dad is the normal level of insane."

The others nodded thoughtfully.

"So, you really are not going to ask her out?" Scorpius asked looking curiously at his best friend.

Albus shook his head. "I don't even know how she feels about me. The idea of asking anyone out is inconceivable! How do people do it?"

"Well…" Louise started, "You see, you have to make sure she sees you and knows of your existence."

"That she does, obviously. Our parents are her Godparents." James said dismissively.

"Well, she has to like you enough to not want to hex you at every end." Fred said grinning broadly.

"She does." Albus laughed.

"It's so simple then!" Alex said sagely, "Just ask her to accompany you to Hogsmeade."

"No!"

"Why not?" James demanded.

"Have you met our sister?"

"Good point."

"What if someone else asks her out?" Scorpius asked.

"Why would you say that, you wanker!" Albus groaned.

"You are being stubborn for no reason." Alex complained.

"You haven't asked Chelsea out either." Scorpius pointed out.

"Of course I haven't." Alex yelped, "Have you met Graham Montague? He would have me for breakfast and not even burp."

Everyone at the table snickered.

"I know what to do." James said excitedly.

"What?" Albus asked, knowing well that James was about to spew a crazy idea.

"We could ask Grandpa James. He got Grandma Lily to go out with him and she hated his guts."

"Delia doesn't hate him." Fred pointed out in a tone which made everyone feel that he was treating James like a four year old.

"And why didn't you say anything when I was pining for Amanda? She hated my guts, remember." Louise pointed out.

"Amanda was a different ball game." James said waving his hand dismissively, "Delia is… well she is a Hufflepuff, what does that tell you? She is nice. She needs a different approach."

"She doesn't-" Albus started.

"Oh, hush you!" James said imitating his mother. "We are going to come up with a brilliant plan. She would love it. And Lily won't find out. Marauder's honour."

Albus, Scorpius and Alex stared at the older boys, who were talking animatedly, waving their arms around and drawing something on the napkin.

"They wouldn't notice us if we walked out right now, would they?" Alex asked.

"Nope. They have their new grand scheme to think of." Albus said with a sigh.

"It won't be too extreme, would it?" Scorpius asked.

"Knowing my brother. It would be downright embarrassing. Ow!" Albus yelped rubbing the back of head, where James had smacked.

"Come on! Let's go." Scorpius said, getting ready to leave.

 **AN: Yes! I am alive and writing again. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Plase stay tuned, I will be updating others too.**


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